COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – As the race to secure a spot in the OVC Tournament heats up, so has the Tennessee Tech softball team. Winners of five of their last six games, the Golden Eagles will host a three-game series this weekend against Eastern Kentucky in the penultimate week of the regular season.
Tech (23-27) will look to improve upon its 9-11 conference record and guarantee itself a spot in the six-team OVC Tournament field, while Eastern Kentucky (13-33) will seek to get itself back in the race. The Lady Colonels are in eighth place in the OVC with a 7-13 record during conference action.
The two teams will play a doubleheader at the Tech Softball Field on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. before playing a single game on Sunday at the same start time.
The Golden Eagles will enter the weekend fresh off of a 9-7 victory over Western Kentucky in which Tech hit four home runs, including two from sophomore Whitney Cummings. Junior Callie Schmidt and freshman Brittney Spalding also went yard for TTU as the team pounded out 14 hits.
Cummings also earned her first win in the triumph over WKU as she pitched 1 2/3 innings in relief before Holly Thomas earned her second save of the season.
After starting the season playing primarily as the first baseman, Cummings has thrived in her recent role as the team's designated player. With five home runs in her last six games, Cummings as upped her team-leading total to 11, tied for second most in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Spalding, who hit her first home run as a Golden Eagle last weekend at Morehead State, wasted little time hitting her second career round-tripper. With the game tied 7-7 in the top of the sixth inning, Spalding smacked a two-run homer over the center field fence that proved to be the game winner against Western Kentucky.
Eastern Kentucky will enter Saturday's doubleheader having lost seven of its last eight games and sporting a 7-23 record away from its home field.
Leading the way for EKU will be Diane Gallagher and Stacye Toups. Gallagher leads the team batting average (.331), runs scored (24) and stolen bases (32). Toups has been the Lady Colonels most effective pitcher and will enter Saturday with a 6-8 record and 2.75 earned run average.
The Golden Eagles will attempt to improve upon its 46-27 advantage in the all-time series beginning Saturday afternoon. Admission to all Tech home regular season games is free.
Fans can also follow along with all the action on live stats through TTUsports.com.
